KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe Monday released his investigation into a crime spree on Sunday, Aug. 6 in which Fairway police officer Jonah Oswald died in the line of duty.
The crime spree started at a Lenexa QuikTrip and moved north along Interstate 35 where it ended in a shootout at a QuikTrip in Mission.
One of two suspects in the crime spree, Shannon Marshall, was killed in the store by police.
Howe writes in the 11-page report that a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper and a Mission police officer were justified in their use of force against Marshall.
The report also concluded the shot that killed Oswald, 29, was fired by Marshall.
RELATED | 'Brave, selfless, honorable': Funeral speakers remember Fairway Ofc. Jonah Oswald
According to the report, after crashing a stolen Jeep on the off-ramp from I-35 to Lamar Avenue, Marshall and a second suspect, Andrea Cothran, ran to the QuikTrip and hid in the mens and women’s restrooms. A Mission police officer went into the women’s restroom and took Cothran into custody.
Body camera footage revealed a plan by several officers to go into the mens restroom and arrest Marshall. After entering the restroom, a KHP trooper, armed with a gun, tried to kick in the door to one of the stalls in the restroom. After he was met with resistance, body camera footage shows him retreat into a handicapped stall.
Howe writes that Oswald put his body against the stall door, after which Marshall allegedly fired a shot, killing Oswald.
The other officers in the restroom retreated, leaving the KHP trooper alone in the restroom with Marshall.
After a moment, a Mission police officer re-entered the restroom and opened fire on Marshall. In the next moment, the trooper reached over the partition separating the two stalls and fired several shots, striking and killing Marshall in the restroom.
“The officers’ use of deadly force which resulted in the death of Shannon Marshall was justified and lawful under Kansas law,” Howe wrote in the report.
LINK | Read the report (Contains graphic details)
A firearms review revealed the Taurus handgun found to be in possession by Marshall had been stolen out of Tennessee.
The second suspect in the case Andrea Cothran, was taken into custody following the crime spree and charged with several felonies. She remains in custody at the Johnson County Adult Detention Center on a $1 million bond. The preliminary hearing in the case against her is scheduled for March 25, 2024. A Johnson County judge previously sealed the affidavit in the court case.
Howe said he elected not to hold a press conference to announce the findings of his report due to the criminal charges against Cothran. No additional evidence was released beyond the written report.
—
